nomadic
arts
incubator

Brown Art Ink1

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1. Founded by Amanda Figueroa and Ravon Ruffin in 2018.

Brown Art Ink is a nomadic community incubator to support the arts ecosystem for artists, cultural practitioners, and communities of color.2 Our work is firmly rooted in community and place as site of memory and cultural geography.

amanda figueroa, co-founder
Amanda believes art is a tool to fight economic injustice. This belief is central to her work as Resource Manager, leading fundraising and other initiatives to unlock institutional resources for artists. She lives in Roxbury and is completing her PhD at Harvard University.
ravon ruffin, co-founder
As Community Manager, Ravon leads our efforts in creating deep relationships with artists and local communities. Her practice is a commitment to the futures of BIPOC communities, online and IRL. She is based in Brooklyn.
2. Brown, Adrienne Maree. Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds. Chico, CA: AK Press, 2017.
we operate with three goals in mind

Mission

Ensure opportunities for artists of color to have sustainable art careers with livable wages, fair work conditions, and equitable partnerships with institutions
Invest in the arts at the local-level to support artists, communities, and local economies against displacement and exploitation.3
Advocate for the presence, the needs, and the issues of local artists and communities to be reflected in the public programming and initiatives of large arts and cultural institutions4
We pursue these goals through two types of work

with Artists5

Create paid opportunities to show work in museums, art spaces, and public programs at fair rates
Provide services and resources for amplification, artist statements and resumes, project management, and in negotiating for contracted work -- let artists be artists
Put artists in direct relationship with their local communities as a way to build trust, accessibility, and mutual awareness, through intimate gatherings, community-centered programs, and art talks6

with Organizations7

Deepen their ability to be in alignment with local community and artists needs, through public programming and ethical collaborations, toward the futures of artists and communities of color
Enhance their internal capacity for equitable exchanges with communities of color through professional training, curriculum building, and audience research
3. “The People’s Cultural Plan for Working Artists and Communities in New York City,” n.d., https://www.peoplesculturalplan.org/.
4.“Why Public Art Matters” (Americans for the Arts Public Art Network Council, 2018), https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-program/reports-and-data/legislation-policy/naappd/why-public-art-matters-2018
5. Levinas, Emmanuel, and Philippe Nemo. Ethics and Infinity: Conversations with Philippe Nemo. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 2011.
6. González, Jennifer A. Subject to Display: Reframing Race in Contemporary Installation Art. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2011.
7. Bishop, Claire, and Dan Perjovschi. Radical Museology: Or, Whats Contemporary in Museums of Contemporary Art? London: Koenig, 2014.
current project

Women-in-Residence

Women-in-Residence is an archival database, to document the presence of Black, Indigenous, and of color women-identifying (BIWOC) artists and arts workers. These women take residence in museums, galleries, and in our communities, shaping and expanding the possibilities for care, criticality, and equity in the arts. Search a network of contemporary BIWOC artists and arts workers whose work is largely underrepresented or documented.8
view the project
8. Shaw, A. (2019, January 28). Gallery representation dwindles for 'established' female artists, new research finds. The Art Newspaper.